I don't smoke camels!
by Pixieblade
Summary: I had this dream about the Ikkoku and Gaiden characters in Egypt. Read the AN at the bottom, it gives a description as to who the Gods are. BTW, I am liberally screwing with Canon and Egyptian mythology, so no one flame me for that, ok? Enjoy!


Title: **I don't smoke camels!**

Series: Saiyuki Egyptian AU

Pairing: 58

Warnings: Um, violence?

Rating: T+ (close to the M line for violence, but not too bad)

He almost walked past. Large crowds weren't really his idea of a fun time, even when they were laughing and sighing in pleasure. If it wasn't for the sharp glimmer of reflected light that hit him square in the eyes he never would have stopped. Tugging his hood a bit tighter around his face he slipped in between the press of bodies crowed around the large fire.

It was a normal sight, and a delightful one, he admitted freely. The surge and pulse of supple nubile flesh clothed in barely there gossamer silk and jangling brass die cut coinage was enough to make even the staunchest eunuch gasp and clench his teeth together in frustration, but the writhing dancers and their flushed musicians weren't what was holding his attention.

The Moon God with his mask of gold and emeralds was.

This _man, God, demon_, whatever he was, was tall, maybe as close to his own height as he'd ever come across in this desert wasteland. His pale flesh held whipcord strength in the lithe muscles rippling below the surface of the delicate joint of his wrists, the tendons flexing spasmodically at his side as long, elegant fingers kept beat with the doumbeks and tambourines.

The thinly pounded golden mask obscured half his face, but the remaining features were pristine in their chiseled finery, high cheekbones and the gently sloping bridge of his nose, the delicate sweep of a slightly arched eyebrow and long softly curled eyelashes that periodically revealed and hid a glittering chipped emerald eye.

He couldn't fathom why the crowd was so fixated on the dancers when they had this man in their midst. There was a moment when the crashing crescendo of the instruments hit a fevered pitch right before the notes died away into the strangely still night when that green-gold eye rose and met his own. A moment when everything seemed to stop, his breath catching in his throat as the narrow slit of the pupil widened minutely and he knew then that the other man saw his _true_ self.

There was a rustling at his waist. Glancing down he grabbed the street urchins hand and pried his purse out of grubby fingers, a swift look of the coldest variety sent the young man yelping and running for cover. He looked back up just in time to see the other man slipping away into the night, like shadows over the moon. Cursing lightly under his breath he pushed back out of the crowd, trying desperately to follow the cloaked figure. He knew that eye! He'd seen the runes and heard the story from the Mother of All herself! This was his task in life, he would not fail now.

"Back away."

The gravely voice and sharp point of a fighting fan tapped warningly against the side of his jugular, the burnished brass tips pulling forth the smallest drop of blood from his tan skin. He stopped just short of impaling himself and looked to the right. The priest beside him had come out of the shadows, or the firelight, he wasn't really sure until he saw the smaller form of an attendant slip unnoticed from that same void space between the sandstone pillars leading up the walkway. They were both painted in gold, the younger of the two still with his matted hair falling unruly into his golden eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked cautiously, this was not the time to piss off a spiritually inclined priest.

"We serve the Son of God, you are not welcomed here, go back the way you came, or else." The priest threatened, his cold, dead violet gaze declaring that he had absolutely no qualms about slitting his throat right there in front of the crowd milling about behind them, so far oblivious to their exchange.

"Son of God?! That man is no God, he's a demon and it's my responsibility to kill him. Let me pass or I'll start with you, priest or no priest!" he hissed warningly, fingers inching towards his sickle and chain.

"Try and touch him and you'll lose your fingers." The sound of the younger attendant's voice broke over him like the scrub of a desert sandstorm over his skin.

"Let him go." Three heads turned as one and stared down the moonlit walkway.

"M'Lord." The two chorused solemnly, going to their knees.

"You are from the far north, are you not? Part of the Femiak clan by those vermillion eyes and hair of yours I assume. Lord Khonsu is very busy, why would you disturb him?" The thin blue light of the moon washed over the new man, older this one, but none-the-less beautiful in his silver and turquoise scaled armor.

"Lord Denwen, you must not walk amongst these commoners!" The younger of the men scrambled up from the sands and stood in front of the priest, seemingly to block the scaled warrior's view of his cohort.

Ignoring the boy, those serpentine eyes turned to stare down the lilac colored ones of the priest who bowed his head grudgingly. "Heka, why did you allow Lord Khonsu to come down from the Upper World? You who have the ears of Lord Hu and Lady Sai, who speak the Truth and the Word of both our worlds; why would you allow such a thing?!"

"Babi, move aside." The painted man stood fluidly, black robes cascading around him like stormy water over the golden shore of the Black Sea.

"No! Heka!!" The young man scrambled for purchase on the ever shifting midnight robes, his eyes going wild around the edges in fear.

"Babi, do not make me ask again or I will be forced to chain you like the monkey you are." His voice was cold as glass as he gazed upon the younger man and raised a hand to pull him back, fingers rubbing soothingly across the nape of his neck as he did, a subtle gesture to help calm the Monkey God.

"My Lord, Lord Khonsu said he was called here tonight, that he must speak to the wailing of the wind and blood of the land. He wanted a bit of peace before engaging the Dark Lord Apep. I believe he was not pleased to be meeting him."

Denwen cursed openly, a scaled hand dragging through his white-blue locks and glanced at the pair before turning his slitted blue eyes at the still cloaked figure behind them.

"What is your name?"

He swallowed hard and steeled himself, it would all come out anyways, and if the ones in front of him now were who they claimed, it was a gamble he had to take. "I am known as Sobek. I am the guardian of the Gods, protector of the thrones of man."

"So~bek~." Denwen slithered, clawed hand lightly dragging across the front of his armor, plucking at the various beads and tiny pounded silver scales in thought. "If that is true then you have two duties tonight, protect Khonsu and then kill Khonsu. I wonder if you can do it." He mused, frowning slightly at the man.

"Heka, Babi, let him through. If nothing else, he must finish his task." Sobek pushed through the two lesser gods and stomped past Denwen, Great Serpent God of Fire, without blinking an eye.

"Tell me though, you are here to punish Khonsu for killing Sepa, the Centipede God, are you not?" He stopped and turned to glare at the man, _he knew his duty, he didn't need to be told what to do by some overgrown snake!_

"Did you know that Sepa killed Khonsu's lover, Neith? Even the Goddess of the Final Rites was unable to stop her own death."

"Lady Heret-Kau, She who is above the Spirits and watcher of the UnderWorld, said Neith took her own life, so Sepa did not break the God-Killing rule of the Upper World. Lord Khonsu did, therefore it is his punishment to die by my hand. According to custom his entrails shall be spilt across the dusty desert of the Lower World for all eternity."

His voice was dead and flat as he spoke. It was his responsibility to kill the God-Killer, but he also knew the story of Neith's abduction by Sepa. If it was his lover who was so terribly abused, he would have done the same thing, but he was blood bound to protect the Gods and Kings of this land, and that sometimes meant killing one to restore the peace and balance of the Upper World. He knew that, even if he hated it too.

"Go then. See if you can take his life. See if he even tries to stop you."

"…."

He said nothing as he turned and walked up the sandstone carved staircase. He said nothing as he passed from the Lower World to the Upper. The mirror image of the land shifting always caused his stomach to flip and turn in upon itself. One of the benefits to always living in the Lower World he supposed…he had rarely had to feel it.

It felt foolish, walking back along the same way he had entered, down the carved stairs and into the openness of what should be the gathering arena in front of the Palace, but the land he trod upon now shimmered in moonlight and star light, the shifting sand a rolling blanket of tiny diamonds and sapphires under the night's embrace. He followed the scent of burning camphor wood and incense down a small pathway, relishing the feeling of water dewing the air. The Upper World was speckled in tiny oases and this was no different.

There were palm trees, there always were, and small shrubbery hanging heavy with plump berries and tiny birds. The finches sat and looked at him calmly. They had no need to be afraid; he was not here for them after all. Passing through the ring of bushes he watched in fascination as the night dark cloak around Lord Khonsu's shoulders dropped silently to the dirt by his feet. With the roar of the fire in front of him, he was almost completely draped in shadow, until he turned that is.

There was a tinkling sound as one pale hand was raised to the half exposed face; tiny bells hung dangling from chains that ran from the cuffs on his wrists to each finger topping each in an elaborately wrought claw. He watched, mesmerized, as one hand daintily plucked at the cord hidden beneath shaggy mahogany tresses, while the other extracted the gilded mask from his face. One normal deep-green eye glanced back at him over an exposed shoulder, a slight look of placid amusement etched into his countenance.

"Sobek, Guardian of the Gods. I see you've come to kill me then?" Turning fully to look at him, Sobek gasped, the hidden eye stared back at him, a hungry, feral wildness glowing gold in the moonlight, a tiny burning sun.

Khonsu frowned; brusquely pushing the too long bangs out of his eyes, he tapped his temple knowingly. "Does it frighten you, this cursed eye of mine?"

Sobek forced his lungs to work, to push the oxygen into his blood and make his heart start beating again.

"No." he breathed reverently, "It is beautiful. Like a Moon Stone dipped in the Rivers of Time."

Khonsu smiled softly, "That is a very pleasant thing to say to someone you're about to rip apart."

Sobek glanced guiltily at the ground, grinding his teeth in agitation. This was not the time for pleasantries; he had a job to do. "Lord Denwen said you were to meet with Lord Apep. I will act as your guard until you have concluded your business; afterwards, I am afraid we will have to end our own business, Lord Khonsu."

"Khonsu, please. If you are going to kill me, we might as well dismiss with the pleasantries." Khonsu slipped away from the fire, his body almost ghosting across the surface of the sand as he approached. The way the moonlight filtered through the thin silk loosely criss-crossing his chest and billowing out from his waist in a long flowing skirt, the play of muscles under the dark, ebony ink of the ochre around his eyes and tattooed into flowering vine-like patterns across his body, the winding lengths of them slithering down his arms and legs, across his chest and up his throat, even across that finely sculpted cheek and nose. He was a walking work of art.

He felt his breath catch again as Khonsu stopped mere inches before him, his pulse racing as one of those silver claws reached out and lightly cupped his chin, his cloak slipping forgotten into a tumbled pool around his feet as Khonsu pulled him up hard against him.

"Very pretty. The blood red eyes and hair of the Femiak tribe. It is said your clan bathe in the blood of your enemies. I must say, after feeling it myself, I do not think I would like to experience it again. I wonder if you taste like blood as well." He murmured, leaning in to nuzzle at the exposed joint of Sobek's neck and shoulder.

He shivered as Khonsu's moist breath slipped over his skin, gasping sharply when a hot tongue joined it in gliding from ear to Adam's apple.

A throaty laugh bubbled up from deep within Khonsu's chest as he leaned heavily against Sobek, "Pity, but I guess not. You taste warm. Does that make any sense? Like Hot honeyed mead with jasmine blossoms floating in it. Intoxicating. I won't fight you, Guardian. When my job tonight is done I shall do as you ask, but you must wait for me to complete this final task."

"Khonsu…" he raised his hands, his sword calloused fingers gripping the hard lines of Khonsu's shoulders and tightening warningly. The shadows were growing behind him.

"Well isn't this a pretty picture. I figured you'd be a bit more stressed after loosing your lover like that, Khonsu."

"Apep."

Sobek roughly pushed Khonsu off of him, spinning the Moon God until he was behind him. A sputter of orange-red flames into the night glinted off of his silver sickle and the barbed chain he used, normally wrapped benignly around his waist, now held expertly between his fingers, a living weapon that curled and twisted like an Asp in his grip.

Apep raised one heavy black brow at him and snorted in a derisive, unrefined way. "Sobek the Guardian, hah! Do you really think that if I wanted to kill either one of you, I couldn't?"

"Dark Lord Apep, I have no doubt you could snap your fingers and kill me in an instant, but my duty is to protect Lord Khonsu, so please just speak your business and be done with it."

"How deliciously ironic, you're going to protect the man you are required to kill as soon as I leave? I do believe this is almost too good to be true, Khonsu. Did you even tell the boy why we're here?" He sneered smugly.

Khonsu placed a gentle hand on Sobek's shoulder, pulling him to the side as he glided past. "Enough Sobek, he won't hurt me."

"How do you know? He has whole legions of dark demons following him and could already be plotting your death!" Sobek called out to him as he walked closer to the dark God.

"Paranoid, isn't he?" Apep playfully quipped as Khonsu came up to his side.

"I brought what you asked Apep, so leave the mortal alone,:

"That wasn't part of the deal, Khonsu. I gave you the means to destroy Sepa and in return you were to give me a living sacrifice of my choosing. I think I'll choose him." Sobek blanched as Apep raised one black gloved hand and pointed it at him menacingly.

"I'm afraid I can't give him to you, Apep." Khonsu sighed dramatically, "He's not one of mine you see."

"Oh, but I think he is, you tasted him, did you not? If I had waited a bit longer you probably would have marked him as well."

"Tasting and possessing are two different things and you know it. I said I'd give you a member of my celestial house, I have brought them as promised, make your selection and go." Khonsu waved dismissively at the dark man, a long suffering sigh escaping his lips.

Apep sneered at the men and turned on his heel, stalking back to the fire he peered into the glowing embers for a long moment before turning back, face contorted in a fierce snarl. "What is the meaning of this Khonsu? Do you plan on going back on our deal?"

"I haven't the faintest idea of what you're talking about, Apep. You asked for one of my number, all of my family is dead, my servants dismissed, these two are the only ones left in my care. Granted they may not be a grandiose as you were imagining, or as young, or even as godly, but they are celestial beings regardless. Now make your selection and go, if you don't mind I have a death to attend to."

Apep roared his frustration, launching himself at the man in his anger at being tricked.

"Khonsu!" Sobek cried out, vaulting to Khonsu's defense in an instant.

There was a grunt combined with a sick gurgling sound as his sickle slashed out across the man's lower abdomen, splaying the dark flesh like a fish. Khonsu's claws racked the soft squishy flesh of the God's throat, talons opening up the larynx, blood splashing down across them as he fell backwards into the fire, the flare-up as the flames engulfed the black rode making them squint protectively against the light. When Sobek could see again he tentatively stepped forward, gazing into the embers for the burned body.

There was nothing there.

"He's not dead yet." Khonsu muttered quietly into the once again still night.

"How can that be? We basically tore him apart?" Sobek watched in abject horror as the man known as the 'God's Strategist' patiently licked Apep's blood from his claws, his eyes both wild and yellow-green in the night.

"He only gave me a portion of his power, even if you were to cut him up into little bits and feed him to the Crocodiles, he would find a way to be born again. That is why Denwen told you to protect me, not kill him." Khonsu finished his preening and wandered over to him, swaying lightly as he did.

"Khonsu!?" He started, raced forward just in time to catch the falling God.

"Oh dear. I don't think I'll be able to maintain this form much longer. It is a bother."

Sobek pulled the trembling man into his arms as he crouched beside the fire.

"If you wouldn't mind, can I ask a favor, Sobek?"

"What is it?" his voice was raw with emotion. He really didn't want to have to kill this man after all.

"Put them back for me." Khonsu breathed out wetly, a small trickle of blood dripping out of his mouth as he coughed.

"Put who where?" Sobek asked confused, scrubbing at the blood.

"The twin novas I brought down. They are in the fire. Of my entire house they were the only ones who stayed. Their fate is to implode anyways, so they said it would be a joy to take that perversion of nature with them. Please, they won't hurt you, just, toss them into the sky, they will find their own way home." Sobek glanced at the wheezing man in his arms and then to the fire. Nodding he gently placed Khonsu against a palm tree and went back to the fire.

Deep inside the orange glow he could see the two white hot spheres. Reaching in he picked them up, startled that they were cool to the touch. Reaching back, he pitched them with all his might into the night's sky and stood there watching as they slowly came together before shooting off into the darkness. He tracked them for a long moment before sighing and turning back to Khonsu.

Calling out he raced to the slumped form's side, pulling him back in against his chest, his dark head cradled in his arms. He couldn't feel his breath anymore. The pulse of life was gone. To stunned to move he ignored the crunch and sound of footfalls as they came closer.

"Sobek. Khonsu is gone, give his body to us, we must take him home now." Denwen's icy voice washed over him like winter rain, chilling him down to his very bones.

"No."

"No? You'd make it so he wasn't given proper rites?! You'd damn him to the Underworld like that?!"

"No. I…I mean…"

"**Denwen.**" The air burst around them. Molten fire and frozen hail whipped back and forth on a tattered wind as _se_ stepped out from the void of nothingness.

"Lady Heret-Kau." They all murmured respectfully, going to their knees and bowing their heads as she advanced on Sobek and the fallen Khonsu.

"Oh my dear boy. What have you done? Khonsu, Khonsu, you always gave me so much joy; I will greatly miss our games of chance by your lamp light." She sighed wistfully while gently fondling the pale blueing lips.

"Denwen, give me a drop of your blood." Holding out hir hand, long red tipped fingers beckoning Denwen closer.

"Lady, you would bring him back?! That is against the rules of the UpperWorld!"

"I will bring him back, but not as a God. As mistress of the Underworld I can do that at least for him. Sobek?"

Sobek glanced at hir confused.

"Sobek, if I do this he will be mortal. You see and hear much in your duty, and since he has died, you're duty is fulfilled. Can I entrust him to you? Can I leave this broken man to your capable hands? Will you guard and protect him, show him what living is truly about? Can I do that?" Se asked gently, a look of compassion flittering across hir beautiful features.

"Yes, M'Lady." Sobek clutched Khonsu to him a little tighter and knew he was shaking. He'd been drawn to the Moon God since he was a child, watching the play of shadows over the surface of the pearly exterior in the darkness of the night and wishing to know more about the man how controlled it all. When he'd been given this task he'd dreaded its completion, meeting the man, feeling his lips and body heat, seeing his grim determination and fierce protectiveness, he wanted more than anything to have him back beside him.

"Very well." Denwen growled, taking a talon and slitting his wrist easily, the dark green blood welling up he held it over Khonsu's mouth and poured a cupful down his slack jaw, Sobek massaging it to make the liquid go down.

Khonsu jerked hard in Sobek's embrace, the trembles starting form his limbs and working inward until his whole body was shaking. Se bit hir lip, drawing blood and leaned in and kisses him, mingling the two bloods of immortality and death, creating hir own brand of mortality.

"What?" Sobek gasped when Khonsu's eyes flew open, two whirling pits of green-fire that ratcheted onto his own bloody red ones and wouldn't let go. "So…bek…" he groaned out, coughing fitfully.

As se pulled back, a small smile toying with the corners of hir mouth se chuckled softly. "Looks like he really didn't want to leave you."

"I don't understand. Why me?" he murmured, clutching Khonsu to him crushingly, still bloody fingers tangling in messy brown hair.

"You…of everyone…you were the one…who would make me repent. Who could help me…find my humanity again…So..bek…."

"Yes. I get it. I get it. Just save your strength, alright? I'm here. I won't leave you."

Standing fluidly se stretched the kinks out of her back and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Do good by him, Guardian, he only has this one life now. You'll have to remind him of that."

"Yes, Lady, I understand and…thank you." He whispered as he tenderly trailed calloused finger tips over the Khonsu's flushed skin, smoothing the sweat damp hair back from his closed eyes, relishing the feel of the shallow puffs of breath across his chest.

"Lady Heret-Kau, is it really alright to leave things like this? Apep's power still flows within his blood." Denwen was by hir side the instant se rose and started walking away from them.

"It's fine. There may be some problems in the future for them, but the Guardian will protect him, especially from himself, _that_ I'm most sure of. Now then, I seem to have lost my playmate, Heka, Babi, I think you two will make a decent enough exchange, come to my palace when the moon rises, I just thought of a new game to play."

"No way you old hag." Heka ground out spitefully, "you still have to find someone to replace Khonsu!"

Se turned fully to face the golden man and beamed. Heka blanched, that was not a good smile, that was a indulging a temperamental child until you got a hold of him smile and he didn't like the fact that it was being shown to him.

"Oh don't worry about that, I'll just reinstate Yeh, he's been bored anyways. Now then, since I don't think you'll show, why don't you escort me? Denwen, I'll see you later. Come you two. NOW!" Babi and Heka flinched as se grapped them by the ears, twisting painfully as they were dragged into the void of space and time to her palace. They could only pray that somewhere, some _when_, they too would die and be set free.

Denwen shook his head at the piteous sight and turned back to watch as Sobek stood with Khonsu's sleeping form in his arms.

"Where will you go?" he asked, not really concerned.

"I'm not sure. Somewhere far away from here where we can start over, I think it's what we both need."

"You'd give up your role of Guardian?"

"Yes, I have a half brother, he always wanted to be the Guardian to the King and Gods and I think he'd serve better than I ever could. He'll take my place, don't worry."

Walking away, he smiled back over his shoulder at the Serpent God, "Thank you, Lord Denwen, we won't forget this."

"…."

Denwen watched as the sands rose about the two, obscuring them from his sight and when he was all alone he smiled sadly. "Take care you two and may the Gods bless you."

The empty desert did not answer him in words, but it sighed softly and breathed around him, a gentle scrubbing of sand against his cheek. He smiled openly now, cloak whipping around him as he turned and strode off. It was enough to know the desert accepted them. He could feel at peace now, the balance had been righted.

Fin.

***

AN: Characters and Counterparts:

_Sanzo = Heka:_

Sia was the personification of Divine Knowledge/Omniscience, the mind of the gods. Hu was the personification of Divine Utterance, the voice of authority. During Ancient times, Heka, the personification of Divine Power accompanied these two gods.

_Goku = Babi:_

Babi was a fierce, bloodthirsty baboon god who was ancient even in the realm of Egyptian gods. We find him mentioned as early as the Old Kingdom, when Babi "bull (i.e. dominant male) of the baboons" with his supernatural aggression is an attribute to which the monarch aspires. He controls the darkness and will open up the sky for the king since his phallus is the bolt on the doors of heaven. Conversely Babi can use his immense power to ward off dangers like snakes and control turbulent waters.

_Hakkai = Khonsu:_

Khonsu is the son of Amun and Mut, and is the god of the moon. He is also revered as the god of time, and is thus regarded as one of the companions of Thoth. Khonsu is a great lover of games, and is frequently shown playing a game of Senet against Thoth for one thing or another.

_Gojyo = Sobek:_

The son of Neith, Sobek was a sort of bodyguard to various gods, especially Ra and Set (in his original form), and was seen as having a similar function for the pharaoh. In times of need, he gives the pharaoh strength and fortitude so that he may overcome all obstacles. He also protects the pharaoh from all harm, especially evil magic.

_Gojun = Denwen:_

Denwen was a fiery serpent god attested in the Pyramid Era, hence very old. He would have caused a conflagration destroying other deities were he not prevented from doing so by the king.

_Merciful Goddess = Heret-Kau:_

A goddess who's name means, "She who is above the spirits", clearly indicating her dominating force in the Afterlife.

_Ukoku = Apep:_

Apep was the ancient spirit of evil and destruction who dwelled in eternal darkness. Every day he would attempt to devour the Sun Boat of Ra as it sailed the heavens. Occasionally, Apep would succeed, and the world would be plunged into darkness (a solar eclipse). Apep commanded an army of demons that plagued mankind. Only by putting faith in the gods of light could people defeat the demons.

_Chin-Ysou = Sepa:_

Sepa was a centipede god from Heliopolis with the powers to prevent snake bites.

_Kanon = Neith:_

In the New Kingdom her association with funerary rites is even greater. She stands, along with Isis, guarding the funeral bier of the pharaoh. In the New Kingdom the mummy wrappings were considered the "gifts of Neith." In many stories Neith is found being asked to arbitrate between two sides, her combination of military prowess and impartiality renders her very similar to Athena.


End file.
